At the Dutch airbase Leeuwarden, the RNLAF will say goodbye to the F-16 Fighting Falcon in 2021. The Goodbye was planned at July 1st, but is delayed due to a crash at Leeuwarden of a Belgian Air Force F-16 during the Weapon Instructor Coarse (WIC). The Dutch F-16s will leave Leeuwarden Air Base after a period of 42 years on this Frisian Air Base.
Leeuwarden was the first Royal Netherlands Air Force airbase which received the F-16 Fighting Falcon in 1979. The 322 Squadron was the first unit which used the type in the RNLAF and is now the first unit in the air force which is replacing the type for the F-35A Lightning II. This is a huge milestone for the RNLAF, because the F-16 was for many years the backbone of the RNLAF. The F-16 participated in many conflicts Dutch service as part of an international coalition. Famous deployments are the ones in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
For the F-16 “Fly-Out” or “Viper Varewell” the unit painted a few aircraft in the original colors of the Frisian airbase in the 80s. In total four aircraft were painted of which three of them wear the original Frisian markings. These aircraft are; the J-509 wearing the full color badges of the 322 Squadron, nicknamed “Polly”, the J-144 is wearing the full color badge of the 323 Squadron nicknamed “Diana” and finally the J-201 is wearing the full color badge of the Transitie en Conversie Afdeling (Transition and Conversion Unit) TCA. The fourth aircraft, the J-871, is wearing the dragon tail, which is the symbol of Leeuwarden Air Base. When the aircraft will leave Leeuwarden for the final time, they will land at their new home base Volkel Air Base in the south of the Netherlands. The final F-16 flights are planned in 2024 when also Volkel will have its “Viper Varewell”.
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